Does anyone have any knowledge of water springs causing a saturated garden, if so please help!

[sensesworkingovertime]

As title really, back of our garden is a quagmire and we've been told houses were built on an area covered by springs years ago. Any advice please folks?

[quoteunquote]

where is your house located , flat land, hill, top bottom?

the water table is at it highest possible level at the moment, total saturation, so there is no where for water to go easily,it like pouring water onto a wet sponge, the farmers all across the country are really struggling,

are you on clay?

have you your local OS map, large scale, do you have an old one? available on ebay, or amazon, it worth having a look, as springs are marked,

check your water meter, in case there is a leak,

if it is a spring there is not much you can do about it, if it is a decent one you can use it for a water supply,

there is a lot you can do with landscaping, try to give the water a route out,

if the lawn is suffering, ram a fork in at intervals fill holes with fine sand, it will help with drainage, the worms will move it about for you.

[ppeatfruit]

Also you could plant a willow or 2, or if you've got the space a eucalyptus tree they SUCK up the water quite radically.

We had a spring and I was idly thinking about making a pond for it to "feed" IYSWIM but our neighbours' eucalypyptus removed it I was a bit about it.

[quoteunquote]

Don't plant either of those anywhere near any pipe work, we replace a lot due to the roots of willow, eucalyptus and other water lovers, one drought and they are very proactive in getting roots into pipe work.

[MrsHoarder]

I was thinking you could dig down a bit and have a pond/mature marsh type area with water-loving plants and hopefully the rest of the garden would stay drier. You can also put thin "gravel paths" sloping downhill to direct the water that way.

[funnyperson]

The back of our garden is very muddy atm because of rain. Maybe your muddy garden is due to clay soil and rain.
Iris pseudocorus and hosta and ferns like wet places.
The RHS website has sections on bog gardens and gardening on wet soil.

[sensesworkingovertime]

thanks everyone, that's very helpful, I'm afraid my gardening knowledge is pretty zilch, don't even know if we are on clay, think we might be...does that mean it doesn't drain?

[notjustamummythankyou]

Garden novice here too...

Our entire neighbourhood is built on clay and we have a very high water table too. Our gardens flood terribly in winter, and it's been completely saturated this year.

Many of the houses in our street have gradually built up the levels of their gardens over the decades. Ours is a good 6 inches higher than either side and there is a difference - just one very wet afternoon can lead to our neighbours being flooded (and I mean ankle deep in water), and we're just a bit boggy! The standing water does drain away fairly quickly, but the ground stays wet for a long time.

When we moved here, there was a pond in the back garden which we filled in. It seems to have acted as a natural soakaway, as we haven't flooded as much since. Other gardens in our street have put in drainage channels. Do your neighbours have similar problems? Might be worth investigating ...

BTW, I found the Crocus website very useful for ideas for boggy gardens. No doubt there are other similar websites out there. And if you find a solution for your bogginess, do let me know!